cascius
Well-Known Member
Every day I get on here and read through the various posts. I love watching the build threads and seeing something made from something that was nothing. It's always cool to see the finished product. Right now I'm at a loss on what to do and wanted some opinions/advice/thoughts.
I have a '70 Dart that I've been slowly nibbling away at for the past few years. It's nothing special, 318/auto car. It looked fairly solid when I got it so I was really excited about it. The interior was in extremely nice condition for being original. The seat has one small tear, and I have a clean set of door panels and a new headliner for it. It would need a dash cap and carpet to be perfect (or close to it anyway).
It had been hit on the driver's side and I knew that when I got it. Found another door for it and attempted to put a quarter skin on that side. It is on there, but very poorly done and would take more work to make it look right than to hang a complete quarter. As I've sanded the car down I keep finding more and more body damage. The biggest one that frustrates me right now is the cowl is beat to death. I ground over an inch of Bondo off the top of the cowl on the passenger side. It appears as if something fell on it and someone tried to straighten it and then just filled it in to make it look right. The inner fender has a couple wrinkles in it back where it meets the cowl. I ground a ton of bondo out of the passenger quarter panel as well, but it looks salvageable. Trunk and floors are all solid. Needs trunk drops replaced also as they were very poorly patched.
Just curious what you would do in this situation. Right now, in my opinion, it needs full quarters on both sides replaced, both trunk drops replaced, the driver's side outer wheelhouse replaced, the passenger front inner fender straightened or replaced, a passenger front fender and extension, and the cowl replaced. I'm at the point now that I question whether the car is worth messing with. I have very few tools and little knowledge. Body work (or metal work) is the only thing that really scares me. I'd love to learn it, but with a family that comes first I don't get a lot of spare time. It is currently in the shop out at my Dad's place, but I don't get out there very often. I might get one or two days a month to actually spend out there working on something. I question whether to spend the money to pay someone to do the body and paint or find a more solid car to start with. I know there are guys with skill that would love to have one in the shape that this one is in but I'm definitely not one of them yet. Here's some pictures of the car in it's current state. Is it worth fixing?
I have a '70 Dart that I've been slowly nibbling away at for the past few years. It's nothing special, 318/auto car. It looked fairly solid when I got it so I was really excited about it. The interior was in extremely nice condition for being original. The seat has one small tear, and I have a clean set of door panels and a new headliner for it. It would need a dash cap and carpet to be perfect (or close to it anyway).
It had been hit on the driver's side and I knew that when I got it. Found another door for it and attempted to put a quarter skin on that side. It is on there, but very poorly done and would take more work to make it look right than to hang a complete quarter. As I've sanded the car down I keep finding more and more body damage. The biggest one that frustrates me right now is the cowl is beat to death. I ground over an inch of Bondo off the top of the cowl on the passenger side. It appears as if something fell on it and someone tried to straighten it and then just filled it in to make it look right. The inner fender has a couple wrinkles in it back where it meets the cowl. I ground a ton of bondo out of the passenger quarter panel as well, but it looks salvageable. Trunk and floors are all solid. Needs trunk drops replaced also as they were very poorly patched.
Just curious what you would do in this situation. Right now, in my opinion, it needs full quarters on both sides replaced, both trunk drops replaced, the driver's side outer wheelhouse replaced, the passenger front inner fender straightened or replaced, a passenger front fender and extension, and the cowl replaced. I'm at the point now that I question whether the car is worth messing with. I have very few tools and little knowledge. Body work (or metal work) is the only thing that really scares me. I'd love to learn it, but with a family that comes first I don't get a lot of spare time. It is currently in the shop out at my Dad's place, but I don't get out there very often. I might get one or two days a month to actually spend out there working on something. I question whether to spend the money to pay someone to do the body and paint or find a more solid car to start with. I know there are guys with skill that would love to have one in the shape that this one is in but I'm definitely not one of them yet. Here's some pictures of the car in it's current state. Is it worth fixing?